Vietnam always treasures its relations with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), one of the leading providers of loans, technical assistance and consultancy for the country, said a senior government official.

While receiving ADB Vice President Stephen Groff in Hanoi on November 8, Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said the ADB has to date financed 165 programmes and projects worth more than US$16 billion in Vietnam.

The ADB’s capital has been used effectively, focusing on Vietnam’s prioritized fields such as infrastructure development, adaptation to clime change and renewable energy, he said, expressing his wish that the bank will continue helping the country get access to preferential loans in the coming time.

Minh told his guest that Vietnam is making every effort to improve its legal framework in a bid to attract more and utilize effectively soft loans and official development assistance (ODA) capital.

The Deputy PM spoke highly of the ADB’s approval of its development strategy until 2030, affirming that the Vietnamese Government supported the strategy towards the realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Groff commended the Vietnamese Government’s recent efforts in maintaining high economic growth and accelerating reforms, including the improvement of the legal framework to enhance the efficiency of foreign loans.

The ADB has attached great importance to and highly evaluated the effective, long-term cooperation with Vietnam, he said, promising to assist the country in looking for more preferential loans for its sustainable development.

Groff also applauded the Vietnamese Government’s endeavours in speeding up negotiations for the signing of the last projects using soft loans from the ADB in 2018.